Seder play
A new DVD recording of La Juive boasts considerable musical strengths in spite of a frustrating production.
Recent Stories
Broadcast
Lohengrin / Teatro la Fenice
Brian Jagde and Dorothea Herbert are Lohengrin and Elsa in a live broadcast from Venice
Streamed April 12, 2026 at 12:00 PM
8 comments
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
A favorite art song performance by Harry Rose
What a shaded and elegant delivery William Mattteuzzi brings to this lilting setting of D’Annunzio‘s “O falce di luna calante”!
Broadcast
Wozzeck / Wiener Staatsoper
Franz Welser-Möst conducts Johannes Martin Kränzle and Marlis Petersen in a live broadcast from Vienna
Streamed April 11, 2026 at 2:00 PM
2 comments
Broadcast
Don Giovanni / Metropolitan Opera
Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads a performance recorded last fall in New York
Streamed April 11, 2026 at 1:00 PM
111 comments
Where imitation ends
Daring reimaginings of Cocteau and Wilde take the stage at the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
A favorite art song performance from David Phillips
Does this count as an art song?
Darkling I listen
Golda Schultz casts darkness in an alluring light in an intimate recital at the New Orleans Opera Festival.
A favorite art song performance from Mr. Portafiori
I have always loved this recording of Canteloube‘s Chants d’Auvergne sung by Dawn Upshaw and conducted by Kent Nagano.
By Mr. Portafiori
75 comments
Lyric Opera of Chicago 2026-27
Lyric Opera of Chicago announces its 2026-27 season.
A specter, haunting
Kaija Saariaho’s spectral, shattering Innocence makes its Metropolitan Opera debut.
A favorite art song performance from Mister Snow
Jessye Norman really embraces elements of the song falling somewhere between classical art song and popular ballad.
By Mister Snow
38 comments
Le galant tireur
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
Festspiel for the consecration of the French Quarter
The inaugural New Orleans Opera Festival goes big across the Big Easy.
A favorite art song performance from La Grunowa
Janet Baker sings Elgar‘s Sea Pictures with such honesty and clarity and fervor.
By La Grunowa
31 comments
Broadcast
Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno / Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Gianluca Capuano conducts Johanna Wallroth, Anna Bonitatibus, Raffaele Pe, and Ed Lyon in a live broadcast from Rome
Streamed April 7, 2026 at 2:00 PM
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Cavalcade of stars
Back-to-back casts in the Metropolitan Opera’s revivals of Madama Butterfly and La traviata offer ample opportunity for soprano-gazing.
A favorite art song performance from Ben Miller
It’s not where you start but where you Finnish
By Ben Miller
60 comments
Broadcast
Innocence / Metropolitan Opera
The opening night of Kaija Saariaho's final opera, live from New York
Streamed April 6, 2026 at 6:55 PM
61 comments
French revolution
Benjamin Bernheim opens up to Emma Hoffman about what really makes a French tenor ahead of his New York recital debut.
A favorite art song performance from Timothy Gray
Wolfgang Holzmair‘s performance was amazing in its personal and intimate approach.
By Timothy Gray
6 comments
Asp and you shall receive
A first-time operagoer is lured to Thaïs at Opera Idaho by the promise of a new experience… and Neil, the Burmese python
By Drew Godbehere
39 comments
A favorite art song performance from Peter Russell
William Parker‘s career launch coincided with the closet door fully opening for American male classical vocalists; the cruel irony is that Will was also an early AIDS casualty, gone in 1993 at 49.
By Peter Russell
33 comments